Rock Island Auction Company will auction the revolver that almost killed Alabama governor George Wallace in 1972.

The pistol's small size allowed Bremer to get close to Wallace

The pistol, valued at $15,000-30,000, features as part of the December 5-7 Premiere Firearms Auctions.

An unassuming weapon, the gun was used by Arthur Bremer, a loner who attempted to gain fame for himself by assassinating President Richard Nixon. When he couldn't get close to Nixon, he turned to Wallace.

Bremer fired five shots at Wallace during the presidential primaries in 1972, during a stop in Maryland, with two hitting the governor and paralysing him for life. Three bystanders were wounded.

Bremer served 35 years of his 53 year sentence, having been granted parole in 2007.

Also starring in the auction is a National Treasure Savage pistol from 1907, which was presented to legendary showman Buffalo Bill by the factory. Valued at $75,000-110,000, it is engraved with Buffalo Bill's real name: "COL. W.F.CODY".

The gun was given to Cody for his advertisements with Savage Arms.

He was quoted as saying: "This is the first automatic pistol I ever owned or fired. I had turned them down without trial and stuck to an old Army revolver. Today I took the old revolver and the Savage automatic out and fired each fifty times making, to my surprise, a much better score with the automatic than I could with my old pet gun."

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